


Fountain of Youth

by AndreaLyn



Category: Hustle
Genre: Age Regression/De-Aging, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 08:08:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,192
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6366052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AndreaLyn/pseuds/AndreaLyn
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's not supposed to be an actual magical artifact, but it's managed to take about twenty or so years off of Ash, which is giving Sean a bit of a hard time (so to speak).</p>
            </blockquote>





	Fountain of Youth

They’ve stolen an ancient artifact in order to make a con go right, needing it temporarily for its’ apparently mystical properties. It’s not supposed to be anything more than a rumoured piece of magic, a little trick of the light and sound. No one actually expects it to be _actually magical_. “I mean, just because it says fountain of youth on the package, doesn’t mean it really ought to be,” Sean is saying nervously while the others stare at Ash.  
  
“Would you all stop gaping?” Ash demands. “You’re like a bunch of goldfish.”  
  
“Yeah, well,” Emma notes lamely. “You’re like…twenty.”  
  
“Twenty-five,” Mickey adds, eyeing Ash with a knowing eye.  
  
“He touched the artifact and suddenly he’s all handsome. And young,” Sean belatedly adds, blinking rapidly. The silence that overtakes everyone means that Sean ought to take a look-see as to what’s going on and that  _what_  is that they’re all staring at him, which helps him to realize the little thing he just said. “What! Tell me he’s not gorgeous.”  
  
“Not really the first thing on our minds, Sean,” Emma notes with concern.   
  
“Yeah, well, does a bloke good to hear,” Ash admits with a crooked grin that makes something in Sean’s stomach tumble. Sean’s hearing goes sharp and sudden with a  _whoosh_ and he nearly misses Mickey’s sudden commands. Albert’s on research, Mickey is going to meet an old contact, Emma has to go meet some academic doctor bloke who might know some of the history and Sean is on guard duty.  
  
It’s in the midst of guard duty that Sean realises that this is a very bad idea. They’re playing cards, but it’s not enough to keep Sean from staring at Ash. “Don’t think Mickey knows about us,” Sean says, feeling like his voice is reedy. “I really don’t think he’d have left us alone if he knew.”  
  
“Or he knows and he thinks that by the time you maul me and distract me with those still-incredible lips of yours, we’ll keep distracted and I won’t wander down to torment Eddie,” Ash drawls easily, flipping a card and claiming it in their little game of war. He keeps his steady gaze fixed on Sean, which is just unfair because it’s not as if he has a lot of control as of the moment.  
  
Said lack of control is proved correct when Sean lunges forward, cards toppling to the ground, and Ash collapses backwards. Sean doesn’t waste a second in pushing atop him and giving himself a moment’s pause as he hovers there above.  
  
“Last chance,” Sean warns.  
  
“ _Me_  last chance? I’m the one who’s your contemporary now. You ought to be the one terrified about how long I could last!”  
  
Which, really, isn’t so scary to Sean so much as it’s the damn best thing he can ever, ever imagine.  
  
**  
  
The bedsheets are a complete wreck and Sean is sore in places he hasn’t felt ache in a long, long time. He winces as he pries off the comforter and sits up for long enough to realize that he doesn’t have a clue in hell why he’s sitting up, collapsing back down on the bed, arm smacking a naked torso.  
  
“Hey, watch it,” Ash warns, still looking younger than necessarily healthy. As much as Sean is enjoying this brief little foray into the mad and macabre, he has to admit that he’ll be glad when they find a cure.  
  
Sean groans and pushes at sore thigh muscles with the palm of his hand. “You broke me,” he accuses.  
  
“We could have just kept on playing cards, you know, no one said that we had to screw like bunnies on atomic meth,” Ash drawls, that mouth of his making that strange turn of phrase particularly sinful. Sean just groans again and buries his head in a pillow, not sure if he wants to be so turned on already.   
  
Instead of saying a word, he turns and traps Ash with arms around his waist. “Can we talk about anything else? Something remotely not-sexy.”  
  
“Mickey in a nun’s habit. Emma putting on a sexy show for you.  _Albert_  putting on a sexy show…”  
  
“Yeah! Yeah, all right, I get the point,” Sean cuts him off. “I get it, I’ll go back to shutting you up.”  
  
Which, judging by the mischievous smirk on Ash’s face is what was intended all along.  
  
After several more ridiculously flexible rounds, Sean is still aching and feels a little like he should expect money on the table for services rendered. He can’t move much except to lean forward in bed, the sheets pooling around his waist and wishing he could summon room service to bring coffee all the way into the suite. He peers over his shoulder at Ash, whose ridiculous head of hair is in complete disarray on the pillow. Part of him is grateful for this little foray, but there’s another part…  
  
“I can feel you staring.”  
  
There’s another part of him that misses Ash the way he always is. Maybe that means Sean’s got a thing for older men that he only realised once Ash came along. Sean slowly leans back and presses himself around Ash, smugly enjoying being the big spoon for once. “I can’t help it. You look ridiculous.”  
  
Ash lets out a huff of laughter and gives Sean a half-lidded look. “I thought I looked gorgeous.”  
  
“Eh,” Sean replies like he isn’t impressed, but he can’t keep a straight face, laughing and leaning down to kiss that tired look off of his face. “This isn’t going to last forever, right?” he asks, unable to keep the wariness out of his voice.  
  
“Mickey thinks it’ll wear off. That a bad thing?”  
  
“No,” Sean promises. “No, in fact, I’m grateful.”  
  
“Yeah, you like me or something?”   
  
“Shut up, you cocky arse,” Sean laughs. “Yeah, I like you. Or have the last few months been unconvincing?”  
  
“Don’t worry,” Ash says, dragging Sean back to bed with a hard pull. “We’ll be back to normal in no time, back to hiding this from your sister and Albert and assuming Mickey knows. Unless you want to change all that?”  
  
“You think they’ll care?”  
  
“I’m the one bound for more of a talking to,” Ash points out. “Debasing the young, ruining the mentee…”  
  
“I’m as willing as you are,” Sean interrupts him stubbornly. “And yeah. Maybe, when you’re back to your _old_ self again, we can have a big meeting and tell them.” It feels a little like the stupidest decision he’s ever made while simultaneously being the right one and that’s how Sean knows it’s what they’re going to do.  
  
Because it’s the same feeling he gets on the job. It’s that thrill of knowing you take a big risk for a big reward.  
  
“Now, can we please sleep?” he begs. “Otherwise I won’t be able to stand tomorrow.”  
  
“Yeah, yeah,” Ash sighs.   
  
It’s when Sean’s drifting off that he hears the faint whisper of words against his neck, pressed and secured with a kiss. “I love you too,” Ash murmurs and Sean grins as he drifts off to the sweetest dreams he’s had in months.


End file.
